In Country

By Pastor Steve Nute

ONYOCHA, ONYOCHA, crowed the persistent rooster. Typical to his kind the world over, his alarm clock was set two hours earlier than it ought to be. 4:30 A.M., yet I was wide awake this first day in Umuokpu village.

I dug my brand new Bible out of its case and settled down to read and pray a bit. It is amazing how close to God I wanted to get because I was so far from everyone else.
We arrived the night before, after a long worrisome night and a rather adventurous plane ride, at the Missionary Embassy, home of Rev. and Mrs. Ndife.

After we had arrived at the Lagos Sheraton, and showered, we set about the somewhat “iffy” business of using the communication tools of Nigeria. I put in a call to Ephraim’s home, but gave up after 6 hours (I gave up earlier really, but I canceled the call after 6). I then placed a call to my wife in the U.S.A.

I always like to hear her voice, but at that time, I guess she sounded the best I ever heard. Amid all the turmoil of being cut loose from any familiar thing, her voice was an island, an oasis in a desert of uncertainty. “Hi, hon,” I twittered nervously. “I want you to do something for me.” And so she spent valuable sleeping time placing a phone call to Ephraim from America.
I think we take for granted the ability to just pick up and dial whenever we feel like it. I know we fuss and fume over alleged problems of our phone system, but one night in Nigeria at the mercy of NITEL gave sweet Mother Bell A-1 ratings in my book.

Nervous, tossing and turning, churning conscience, fear and a deep seated feeling of unworthiness woke me around 3:30 A.M. I questioned whether or not I should be here. I looked at the bare bones of the creature that God had exposed, and I cringed to think that He could ever use me. Oh how the adversary sifted me those early morning hours. How I berated myself for my lack of confidence in God and My overwhelming fears at the airport. Even then I was awash in fear, fear that Ephraim couldn’t be contacted, fear that we’d be stuck here never to accomplish our mission.

I drifted back to sleep after a session of promissory prayer and awakened a few hours later, still somewhat up in the air. Thoughts of what I should have done, what I didn’t do all crowded in on me like a thick cloud of devouring insects.

Larry awakened and despite not being a morning person, displayed the same calm and good nature that prevailed in any situation. He treated me to a sumptuous breakfast of real American type food, and we returned to our room to await a call from Ephraim.

I was still fretting like a father during his daughter’s first date, and this was magnified by Doc’s cool calm. The phone rang, and I picked it up.
“Hello,” I tentatively answered, and then erupted into joyful dance as I heard what was, at the time, the best sound ever. “It’s Ephraim, and I’m downstairs.”

As if some giant hand had reached down and pulled the stopper, all the strain of the previous 24 hours drained out of me. I was rather ecstatic at that moment and was to ride that wave until we were safely ensconced in our beds at the Missionary Embassy.